Page 61 - Phoenix1999-2000

COMMENTARY Thursday, November 18,1999- Page 5 Attitudes Pro and Con: Should crosses be returned to questioned Big Baker Chapel and Elderdice Hall? Michael Wiles confronts Pro: Kristen G, Fraser the crosses disap- administrative attitudes The topic of religious freedom addresses one aspect of as such, from the history have of WMC. crosses, wouldn't there also be a peared towards binge drinking. and the role of the state have al- WMCs reLigiousand Recently, the topic of the problem with the school in general? If someone to the reli- objects most become a repetitive argument crosses was brought up again. It For some reason, much has in American society. Who would historic past. gious connotations of crosses, sounds reasonable enough been said about the trend of have expected that the argument The crosses remained for histori- them back to the campus to bring would not there be discussion con- for the "binge drinking" on America's would turn up here at Western cal purposes. reasons outlined here. cerning two church buildings and college campuses, WMC in- Maryland College? Instead of facing the ACLU in a history related with a specific af- cluded, as of late. As this was explained to me, 'Court, WMC decided to settle with They represent many historical filiation? This comes as a surprise, there was a situation that occurred the organization outside of the aspects of the college, if only in an But, these are some of the ar- since the epidemic itself rarely here in the 1970's. court system. The two bodies architectural sense. of a contro- guments that have been discussed. There is somewhat surprises anyone. If you are one The American Civil Liberties reached an agreement. The crosses versy about this topic. The contro- The implication from these argu- of the few it does surprise, you Union sued all of the private c?l- would be removed, and in return, versy stems from the aforemen- ments is that people would not feel might want to consider where comfortable attending Western you have been recently. The implication from these arguments is that people would not feel comfortable We all know that the prob- lem of "binge drinking" creates attending Western Maryland College because of the crosses. any number of conflicts, the least of which being illegal un- leges and universities in the state the ACLU would drop the charges. derage consumption. of Maryland for displaying various So, that is what occurred, ac- tioned struggle between church and Maryland College because of the state. crosses. The problem, however, goes religious ties while still receiving cording to various hearsay accounts side of this The other beyond that. All too often, state funding. told around campus. would be to keep the crosses issue Quite frankly, this is ridiculous. away, If someone was not comfortable "binge drinking" results in al- The ACLU objected to the use The cross arms were sawn off since they represent a form of rei i- with the religious affiliation of this cohol poisoning. of these ties, saying that they fell from atop the steeple of Baker Me- gion that is not appropriate to some institution, then (he crosses.would In a recent article, the Phoe- within the realm of inappropriate morial Chapel, and a helicopter was nix examined how this current use of government and expanding used on top of Elderdice.' Simple of the student body. not make a difference, and they But, there are many other indi- trend is affecting WMC. Mike the argument of church versus state. enough right? cators of the historical, religious should choose another institution. Webster, director of Campus In the case of WMC, the reli- Not exactly. aspect of the college present al- I hardly think that the crosses Safety, reported that his records gious symbols were the crosses When the court finally ruled on ready. would affect someone's decision to show two cases so far this year. atop Baker Memorial Chapel and the lawsuit brought forward by the It seems that a cross is as attend a college. Upon further investigation, Elderdice Hall. ACLU, they threw the lawsuit out equally offensive as a steeple. Support for bringing the crosses his records were quickly con- These crosses were a remnant of co urt. Yet, the steeples that rest on top back should be for aesthetic, archi- reasons. and historical tectural, tradicted by those of Scott of the era when WMC was offi- The other affected colleges in of Baker Memorial Chapel and There is no reason to compli- Kane, assistant dean of Student cially affiliated with the Methodist Maryland left religious symbols on (Little) Baker Chapel seem like a cate this issue by using irrelevant Affairs and director of Resi- Church. their campuses, and life moved on. fairly strong religious indicator. dence Life, who reponed When this incident occurred, WMC experienced serious em- There seems to be some confu- arguments of church versus state. knowledge of four cases. the college had already broken af- barrassment on that day. Instead of sion here. As this situation unfolds, hopefully, Although the discrepancy filiation with the Methodist church. standing fast, they succumbed, and the reasonable argument will pre- between these two sources If there were a problem WIth the vail. leaves one asking questions, it is what they agree upon that is Con: Megan K. Martin poses aid from the Methodist Church. most puzzling. The argument over whether or the counter view to making the break fairly appropri- rers by placing religious matters in the hands of (he students. Both Webster and Kane not WMC Should replace the replacing religious ate. When the college agreed that this situation is not, crosses on Big Baker and Elderdice symboLs. The decision rendered by (he filiation with the broke its af- Methodist in the words of Kane, "un- should not be an issue. The crosses plays FI!1igiBlis BFRamBRts QRsome Supreme Court states that a reli- Church, it could not pick and usual." He continued, "If it's were taken off after the college of its buildings? giously affiliated college or univer- choose which aspects to retain and not unusual, we really do not broke its affiliation with the United r find that to be contradictory. sity can receive state funds. This is which to weed out. An agreement feel as though we have to keep Methodist Church, and they should Although r do not think that the because the primary mission of was reached with the ACLU out of statistics." remain off the buildings. crosses would significantly harm such schools is education, not reli- court. What is more, in the words WMC does not represent itself WMC's enrollment, it may have a gion. So, WMC could have retained In the settlement, of Webster, "We usually expect as a religious institution, and there- negative effect on the college's its religious affiliation and its state to certain terms. These WMC agreed in- terms two or four alcohol poisonings fore, having crosses atop building reputation. funding. cluded limiting the number of each semester." would be at cross purposes with the An argument for tradition might The issue of church versus state Methodist ministers who were pro- It would seem to me that, in presentation of the college. stand, too. A few weeks ago, I is very complex, however. Once a light of these facts, something Arguments that the crosses wrote on the importance of tradi- religious institution, of any nature, fessors. Also included in the agree- of crosses ment was the removal has gone very wrong in the fight should be replaced for historical tion. Two crosses, however, do not takes money from the state, the from Big Baker and Elderdice. against alcohol poisoning on this campus. Crosses on the buildings would have falsely proclaimed to anyone living on or visiting I understand that the battle is a tough one, but it would the campus an affiliation that no longer existed. seem that, by not keeping proper statistics and "expect- purposes are dubious. No one can make or break tradition. state can hold some kind of con- After the break, the crosses on ing" such things to occur, those convince me that Big Baker is an Religion does not go unrecog- trol over that institution. the buildings would have falsely in charge are not really taking historic building. The cornerstone nized on campus. Among the six re- Whether or not the state would proclaimed to anyone living on or charge at all. on the building reads 1957. How ligious groups, mere are at least two actually control such an institution visiting the campus an affiliation And, along those lines, one much historic value can a building Christian groups that mark and re- is not the issue. The possibility is that no longer existed. is led to ask the question - when that young have? member the college's religious always there, and it negatively af- Religion itself is a complex and can we expect something to be You might be able to convince past. Tradition also lies in the his- fects the religious aspect of the in- emotional subject. I am by no done about all this? I think that me that Elderdice is an historic tory of the college. stitution. means advocating that the college four cases is far too many for building, but I would still have my At the center of the reason for For that reason, it may have should deny it's past affiliation with those in power to overlook or doubts. the crosses' removal is a Supreme been the best thing for WMC to the Methodist Church. That is an to "expect." While I am not an Court case, Roemer v. Board of break its affiliation. State funds are important aspect of college history, The student body has been accommodationist by most stan- Public Works 426 U.S. 398 (1976). very important to the 'school, and assured that those involved in dards, I do not think potential stu- I studied this case last year in Reli- religion can exist on campus with- and without that affiliation, WMC would not necessarily be what it is the last four cases recovered, dents would be offended, as a gion and Culture. out specific college regulations. today. but maybe the next one will not whole, by crosses on the buildings. Yes, WMC did break with the Rather than jeopardize the be- Since the college did break that be so lucky. I do think, however, that' the United Methodist Church around liefs of one Christian denomina- affiliation, the crosses no longer be- And, maybe, that unfortu- crosses would make some feel un- the time of the ACLU's case, but it nate eventuality will be "un- comfortable. That would be under- was not just because of this case. tion, the college, by breaking the long on campus. If they reappear, affiliation, they would made room for greater make the college look usual" enough to deserve fur- standable. Who would be comfort- Apparently, the college had not religious diversity. two-faced and would jeopardize the ther investigation. able with a college that says it is been receiving what it felt was the It also lessened the potential for reputation of an open and reli- At least I ho it would. not religiously affiliated yet dis- appropriate amount of monetary state intervention in religious mat- giously diverse campus.